The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for processing image data.
Digital cameras, including digital still cameras and digital video cameras, have been gaining wide acceptance among consumers recently. The digital still cameras (“DSC”) are configured to capture and store primarily still pictures or images, whereas the digital video cameras (“DVC”), e.g., camcorders, are configured to capture and store primarily moving pictures or videos. Many DSCs, however, are also configured to take videos as well as still pictures. Similarly, many DVCs also are configured to take still pictures as well as videos. Generally, the DSCs and DVCs are provided with audio recording features as well.
The digital camera is generally connected or linked to a host device to view, transfer, or edit the images captured using the camera. DSC is generally coupled to a computer for such a purpose, and DVC is generally coupled to a television system or computer for such a purpose. One example of a digital camera is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,362,851, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The world is being proliferated with various consumer electronic devices, such as, personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), mobile phones, scanners, printers, digital televisions, video conference phones, and the like, that are provided with image processing capabilities. These electronic devices are generally designed for specific applications so they are configured to support only specific compression or data formats and provided with proprietary user interfaces. Even the same type of electronic devices support different data compression standards and user interfaces according to the manufacturers of the devices.
Similarly, the digital cameras are provided with their own specific data compression technologies and user interfaces. For example, the DVC commonly uses a digital video (“DV”) format or a Motion Picture Experts Group (“MPEG”) standard set by the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC). Other video compression technologies are the H.261, H.262, and H.263 standards of the International Telecommunications Union, Microsoft WMV, Teleconferencing Section (ITU-T), which are generally used for video conferencing. The DSC commonly uses a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) standard set by the ISO/ITU for storing images in compressed form using a discrete cosine transform and entropy coding. Alternatively, the digital cameras may be provided with proprietary compression technologies. Accordingly, the digital cameras of today are configured to display captured images with selected types of consumer electronic devices but are not compatible with many other electronic devices.